Ae ag PE ARS A carga eee Bene sm epretei riers iy
Re ee eat ae nee wi

72 Lutte ore

technology is concerned, not

‘any people are impressed with

new breakthroughs unless they
affect their children personally.
Little can be done to impress
tax-paying parents unless it

‘seems that the job is being done

properly, starting with their own
children.

by Philip Musselman

Good news for parents of
Skeena Junior Secondary
students has arrived in the facili-
ty’s resource centre in the form
of special hi-tech equipment that
may just help students ‘‘want to
learn’’. That may seem a little
far fetched, but it’s true. The
computer age has now advanced
enough to gain the attention of
high school students who are
marvelling at the time-saving
devices they have access to, like
the computer.

The main attraction of the
computer, to a lot of students,
may be the computer game, but
I’m sure you will find them ad-
mitting that they like the idea of
word processing. The word pro-
cessor can effectively make essay
writing easier to the individual
who is used to typing in order to
get a neat, professional looking
product. The Skeena library has
word processing stations which
can be used by the student
wishing to keep his or her paper

Painless res

“TERRACE — As far as school

Terrace Review — Wednesday, January 20, 1988 11 —

Skeena Junior Secondary School students Michelle Plantinga and Brenda Wiebe make use of a micro fiche projec-
tor in the Skeena library. This device is one portion of the new equipment that the library has acquired in order to
improve methods of research. :

organized, But the writing of an
essay is only a small portion of
the work that may go into it.
Most of the work in an essay
comes from the research that
must be done in order to build

Cash incentives for
students begin soon

_ The Ministry of Education’s
**Passport to Education’ pro-

gram will begin this spring. The.

program has been developed by
the ministry to provide deserving
grade 9 to 12 students with the
incentive and opportunity to
continue their education at the
post-secondary level following
grade 12 graduation.

School District 88 Director of

‘Instruction Harold Cox said that

by introducing the program ear-
ly in the secondary education ex-
perience, it is believed that
students will be motivated to

Clarify their goals concerning

post-secondary education.
Cox said the top 30 percent of

‘all students enrolled in each

school can qualify for credits,

with grade 9 students entitled to

a $125, grade 10 students $175,
grade 11 students $225, and
grade 12 students eligible to
receive a credit of $275.

He said a student qualifying in ;

all four years would therefore be

. entitled to a maximum credit of

$800 following grade 12 gradua-
tion, which can be applied to the
first year of their nost-secondary
education for tuition, books, liv-
ing expenses and transportation.

However, he explained that

eae

DIAMOND |
FUBILEES |

Terrace’s 60th Diamond Jubilee Committee
WISHES TO SAY (A HUGE)

“THANK YOU"

To absolutely every service club, group, board, association and
Individual who in any way whatsoever assisted us in the planning
and participation of the December 27th, 1987 celebrations.
Your willingness to give so much of your time (especially prior to
and during Christmas) and to loan us items so freely was so very
much appreciated and deserving i the very warmast of "Thank
‘ou's"

the 1987/1988 school year is the
first year implementing a four-
year program, and students cur:
rently enrolled in grade 12 will
only be entitled to a one year
credit. But students currently in
grade 9 will be able to receive
credit for each of the next four
years in which they qualify.

He said two-thirds of the
selection weighting process for
each grade is based on a grade
point average of either projected
or actual final marks on the

students five best courses, and:

up to one-third wil be based on
school-established criteria such
as effort, citizenship, and com-
munity involvement.
According to Cox,
“Passports” will be sent to

-every grade 9 to 12 student this

spring and stamps will be issued
to students in the top 30 percent
of each school in June.

“It. is anticipated that this
recognition will foster in
students an enhanced sense of
pride in their secondary school

- accomplishments,” said Cox. ‘‘I

think it’s a very postitive ap-

proach to helping students
achieve their educational
goals.’’

Pa

Cm

clean, solid facts that make up
the essay’s arguement. For the
most part students have been
taught to search through books
in the library and find articles on
their particular topic. Although
this procedure can be more than
just time-consuming if the stu-
dent is not able to come up with
a search technique, it is the basis
of assigned school work and
therefore, is one of the things

ba

that students must begin learn-
ing as soon as possible in the
education system.

During my recent tour of the
new Skeena library equipment I
couldn’t help but notice the
energy and enthusiasm displayed
by Ray Walker, my guide and
Skeena’s librarian. To the right
and left of the entrance are two
machines, commonly known as
micro fiche projectors. Accor-

ding to Walker these devices are
capable of allowing students to
look at magazines’ and
newspapers as well as other
periodicals by simply inserting a
small plastic strip of film into
one of these projectors. Im-
pressive I admit - but what is the
use of this device? ‘Simple and
effective,’’: says Walker.
“Students are able to take a
micro fiche magazine, like Time, —
and research articles written on
various topics.’? A demonstra-
tion of the machine displays its
usefulness. We look at a science
magazine - Discover - and
Walker shows me several articles
which may be of use to students
and definitely have learning
value. Other publications are
available; the library has ‘about
50 titles that are received mon-
thly just like magazines, but
without the bulk and the wear
and tear that magazines present.

This I agree is quite a useful
development, especialiy con-
sidering that newspapers are also
available on micro fiche,
something any reporter would
appreciate. The research uses of
micro fiche are expansive. For
instance, Newspapers on micro
fiche definitely decrease the
amount of space needed in a
newspaper morgue, and in this
instance make more room in the
library for other things while
still keeping an extensive selec-
tion of magazines and
newspapers. In fact, the Skeena
library has Time magazine back
to the 1950’s and National
Geographic goes back to the
720s.

earch at the Skeena school library

continued on page 16

January 15 fo 34

35 YEARS OF SERVICE